Ugly Duckling
by unseenandforgotten
Summary: Every high School had an ugly Duckling, Konoha High was no exception. They had Naruto Uzumaki. Minor Sakura bashing for first half, SasuNaru. Warning: Contains swearing, malexmale pairing implied. Don't like, don't read. Please R


They say that every high school has at least one 'Ugly Duckling'. Konoha City High School was no exception.

Naruto Uzumaki had been labelled as the 'Ugly Duckling' as soon as he stepped through the front door, after he had transferred from Suna High School. He was originally from Konoha but after his parents had been killed by Orochimaru, a dangerous serial killer that liked to use snake venom in his murders; his godfather and guardian, Jiraiya, took him to Suna for his own protection.

He had short, messy blonde hair, with slightly tanned skin. Hidden behind thick, ugly glasses, bright blue eyes could be seen. On his teeth, were braces, making nearly everyone cringe when he smiled. He normally wore baggy clothes, which were far too big for him, although he was slightly overweight. On his cheeks were six mysterious scars, three on each cheek. When asked about them, he just flinched and tried to change the subject.

He was also your stereotypical geek. He studied hard, getting straight A's in all his classes, including Chemistry, Biology, Art, and English. He only had a small group of friends, and could be seen hanging around with them at lunchtimes, laughing and joking around. His friends protected him when he was picked on, making him smile when he was depressed, and helping him when he was hurt.

His friends; Hinata, Kiba, Shino, Neji, TenTen, Lee, Shikamaru, Choji, and Ino, who was once best friends with Sakura Haruno before they got into a huge argument, stuck by Naruto through everything.

His group of friends were soon joined by three more people; Gaara, Temari, and Kankuro, who had also transferred from Suna, a few years after Naruto had moved back to Konoha with Jiraiya. They had been friends with Naruto in Suna, and were instantly accepted into their small group.

-Line break-

It had been ten years since Sakura had stepped foot in her old high school. Ten years since she had graduated.

In high school, she had had everything. She was beautiful, with her cherry blossom pink hair and jade green eyes. She had been head of the cheerleader squad, cheering her 'Sasuke-kun' as he played. She was voted prom queen, with Sasuke being voted prom king. She had been popular, having the boys lusting over her and the girls wanting to be her. She had everything...well almost everything.

She didn't have Sasuke as her boyfriend.

Sasuke Uchiha, the love of her life. He was popular, being head of the soccer team. He was smart, getting straight A's in all his classes. He was handsome, getting more handsome every year and having all the girls chasing after him, including her ex-best friend Ino Yamanaka, before she joined a different group of friends...

_Ino and Sakura had been friends since they had been small children after meeting at the play park. They had become instant friends. They had been discussing something one day when Naruto Uzumaki, the 'ugly duckling', hurried past, clutching his sketchbook and other books to his chest, hurrying to his art class. Sakura sneered as he hurried past Ino and herself, before smirking and sticking her foot out, causing him to trip, fall and drop his books on the floor. She tsked before sneering, "Jeez Naruto, could you be any clumsier?"_

_Naruto just stayed silent, picking up his books, before standing and walking away more slowly than before, his head bent down as everyone that had seen him fall, laughed and pointed at him._

_Ino watched him go, before turning on Sakura, "Why the hell did you do that?" she demanded,_

_Sakura looked at her like she had grown a second head before replying, "What do you mean Ino?"_

"_I mean, why did you trip him?" Ino asked, getting more annoyed,_

_Again, Sakura looked at her strangely again before answering, "He's the 'Ugly Duckling' and a geek as well, that's why" she stated as if it wasn't obvious,_

"_Well, don't" Ino stated, "leave him alone, he's as much a person as you and me,"_

_Sakura took a step back before narrowing her eyes and stepping forward again, "Are you sticking up for him?" she asked incredulously, before she started laughing._

_Ino narrowed her eyes before asking, "So what if I am? What are you going to do about it?"_

"_Ino, he's a geek! You're popular! You can't stand up for him; it'd ruin your reputation! You'd lose you popularity like that!" she said, while snapping her fingers_

_Ino just shrugged before walking away, not turning back, and waved her hand in the air. Sakura stared after her, speechless. She could hear people whispering around her, but they all stopped and left when Sakura glared at them._

_From that day on, Ino became a part of Naruto's small group of friends, and Sakura and Ino were no longer best friends._

-Line Break-

It had been ten years since Sakura had stepped foot in Konoha City High School. The school was holding a 'High School Re-Union', where all the students that were in Sakura's year were invited to the school to re-unite.

She walked towards the gymnasium where she could hear music playing. As she entered, she looked around at all the people that were gathered there already. She could see a food table along one of the walls, and then saw someone she hadn't seen in ten years; Sasuke Uchiha.

He had, if possible, gotten even more handsome. His raven hair, that had a blue tinge to it when the light hit it from a certain angle, was spiked at the back, with two sections of hair framing his face. His pale skin seemed almost luminescent in the light and his coal black eyes were looking about the gymnasium, as though he was searching for something, or someone.

Sakura instantly went back into her old 'fan-girly' self, believing he was looking for her. She adjusted her red dress, which was low cut to make her chest seem bigger and to just above her knees with a slit down the side showing off her leg, flicked her cherry blossom coloured hair over her shoulder, and started walking towards where Sasuke stood beside the food table.

As she walked, she noticed that Sasuke was wearing a dark blue button up shirt with the top couple buttons opened revealing pale skin, dark slightly baggy jeans, and a pair of black and white converse to finish of the smart, yet casual look.

"Sasuke-kun!" She squealed, raising her hand into the air and waving as Sasuke looked towards her, his eyebrow twitching, and his face pulled into a grimace. "Oh Sasuke-kun, you've gotten even more handsome since I last saw you" She exclaimed, attaching herself to his arm, which caused his eyebrow to twitch in annoyance.

He saw the door to the gymnasium opening out of the corner of his eye, and he turned towards it as he saw someone with blond hair enter, completely ignoring Sakura as she babbled on about whatever.

Sakura, noticing Sasuke's attention wasn't on her, but rather the door, also looked towards the door and saw a head of spiky golden blond hair. A very familiar head of spiky blond hair, which was bent down, hiding the persons face from view.

As the person walked in, Sakura instantly started speaking loudly, gaining everyone's attention, "Hey everyone! Look! It's Naruto Uzumaki, the ug...ly...duck...ling...?" She trailed off as Naruto, the one who had just entered, raised his head, causing everyone to stare at him in shock, and Naruto to blush in embarrassment at the stares he was getting.

However, everyone had good reason to be in shock, for Naruto was no longer the 'Ugly Duckling' he had once been. His golden blond hair was longer and more tamed, though it still had a slight spikiness to it. His eyes were no longer hidden by his thick rimmed glasses, allowing everyone to see his sparkling sky blue eyes. The mysterious whisker like marks that adorned his cheeks seemed thicker and more defined, sticking out against his now golden caramel skin.

He wore a tight, orange, long sleeved top that showed off his slightly muscular arms. Over the top he wore a button up black shirt, which had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, which was unbuttoned and hanging open, clearly showing defined muscles. He also wore a pair of loose fitting dark jeans, which were just held onto his hips by an orange belt. On his feet, he wore a pair of orange converse, and to finish the outfit off, he wore an aquamarine crystal necklace around his neck that glinted as the light hit it.

He looked around the gymnasium at all the staring faces before his eyes landed on Sasuke, and he instantly broke into a blinding smile, showing everyone his perfectly straight teeth.

Out of the corner of her eye, Sakura saw Sasuke give a smile in return. Not a smirk, but a smile, that made Sasuke's eyes light up and sparkle. His face softened out of the frown that is was in and small dimples appeared in his cheeks.

The whole gymnasium went silent as the people who had not seen Naruto since high school were in awe/shock, the only sound coming from the DJ that stood on the stage, but even the DJ reduced the volume of the music as he too was a past student of Konoha high, and was a year or two below Naruto and the rest of his classmates. Those of the people there that had been friends with Naruto and still were were all crowded in a corner near the food table, silently laughing at Sakura's face. Well, who would laugh at her face? She'd looked like a fish gasping for water.

It was clear that Naruto and Sasuke only had eyes for each other, but that didn't stop Sakura from trying to get Sasuke's attention. She grabbed his arm and pulled him towards her, his arm situated in between her weak excuse for a chest. She felt Sasuke's body tense before he forcefully removed his arm from her grip, a sneer on his face.

"Get away from me you bitch," he said once he had removed his arm, before taking a step back so as to distance himself from her. Sakura got a confused face and started to chuckle before reaching for Sasuke's arm again. "Very funny Sasuke-kun" She started to think Sasuke had her confused with someone else. Sasuke took another few steps back until he found himself stood beside Naruto, who had walked over towards where Sakura and Sasuke stood.

Sasuke continued to look at Sakura in disgust before placing his arm around Naruto's waist and pulling him towards himself, Naruto getting a blush in the process. They didn't see the look of surprise on many people's faces and the knowing smirks of Naruto's, their, friend's faces. Sakura's face was first one of surprise, before becoming one of disgust.

"I should have known you'd be gay, ugly duckling," Sakura sneered, her arms crossing in an attempt to be intimidating, though it definitely wasn't working, "And now your gay germs have infected poor Sasuke-kun" she screeched, acting as though loving the same sex was a contagious disease. Sasuke's arm around Naruto's waist tightened, knowing how this was affecting Naruto.

But Naruto was tired and fed up. He was fed up with the ridicule he had gone through with, and suffered from, during high school. He would not have this start again, not after the four years he had to survive of high school. Luckily he had his friends by his side and they had helped him smile when he was depressed and close to breaking point. He had also had Sasuke there too, who had been his best friend, though not many people knew that, and after leaving high school they had both studied at the same college. Naruto had gotten a major in art, and Sasuke majoring in English but also studying music at the same time. They had soon begun to realise their feelings for each other, and as of nearly six years ago, had been in a happy relationship.

Naruto clenched his fists together and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath before opening his eyes again to glare angrily at Sakura. He then spoke in deep voice, that seemed to shock most of the reunion attendees, glaring at Sakura the whole time,

"Don't you dare try and blame me for something I haven't done. I love Sasuke and he loves me. You may not approve of our relationship but I could honestly not give a flying fuck what you think" He spoke in a steady voice, tinged with anger, "You know, I think everybody was actually scared of you. They didn't respect you or adore you. They feared you because of your temper when something didn't go your way, and your monstrous strength when you 'taught someone a lesson'. You were just a bully.

"Sasuke and all my friends were there for me when you knocked me down. They stopped me from trying to harm myself, telling me that I had the strength to get through the ridicule you put me through, and that I was the better person. The whole school was against you, they just pretended to adore you so that you wouldn't take your anger out on them." Naruto chuckled to himself, shaking his head before looking up at the ceiling, his eyes unseeing. "You know? I feel sorry for you," Sakura looked confused before opening her mouth, to ask why, but Naruto started speaking again, "You stepped on so many people on your way to the top, not realising what you were doing, how many people you hurt. But essentially, you were just hurting yourself, losing any friends that you had just because you wanted to be popular."

Naruto lowered his head to look at Sakura again, lifting his arm to the people around him, "Look around you Sakura, we've all grown up. Have you?" He stared at Sakura, who lowered her arms to her side and lowered her head with a sigh. She nodded then lifted her head, her eyes shining with tears, "Your right Naruto. I was a bully, and I'm sorry. I guess I was jealous of you, because you had such good friends and I only had Ino for a friend, and I went and blew that friendship." She wiped her eyes, trying not to smear her makeup and looked at Naruto with a small smile on her face, "You don't have to forgive me, but could we maybe be friends?" She asked, holding her hand out to Naruto.

Naruto stared at her hand for a few seconds before smiling and grabbing her hand and pulling her towards him in a hug, Sasuke letting go to step away and give them a moment. Naruto was a kind person and always hugged his friends, which meant that he had accepted Sakura's hand in friendship.

"I would love to be you friend Sakura-chan!" He exclaimed with a big smile on his face as he hugged Sakura. When he let go, he continued to smile before shouting, "Let's get this party started! Konohamaru, get that music turned up and get this place rocking!" Sakura laughed before starting to dance with the rest of the party goers as the DJ, Konohamaru turned up the music and started the light show.

Sasuke and Naruto started dancing together and soon all their friends joined them, including a nervous Sakura. But soon her nervousness disappeared when she started dancing with a guy called Rock Lee who was dressed in a green suit, with a back shirt and an orange tie.

-Line Break-

The party lasted for many hours, but all good things must come to an end. It was nearing 1am and the only people left in the hall were Naruto, Sasuke and their friends who were all sat at small tables located in the corner of the room. The music was down low, and everyone was talking amongst themselves.

"We should meet up somewhere and do something together," Naruto suggested his arms around Sasuke's neck as he sat in Sasuke's lap. Sasuke had his arms around Naruto's waist and was leaning his chin on Naruto's shoulder.

Everyone all agreed, and made plans to go bowling with a meal afterwards, the next weekend they had free. Soon everyone started leaving and soon it was just Naruto, Sasuke, Sakura and Lee. Lee bowed towards Sakura, telling her he would wait outside and left the hall also.

The sat in silence until Sakura spoke up, "I know what I did to in high school was wrong, and you don't have to forgive me, but thank you Naruto for becoming my friend. I only wish I hadn't bullied you and then maybe we could have become friends sooner..." She wiped her eyes with a napkin before standing up to leave. Naruto quickly stood up too and gathered Sakura up in a hug, "Thank you Sakura, I so glad that to have you as a friend," He let her go and kissed her forehead, "Now go, Lee's waiting for you"

Sakura smiled up at him, before leaving towards the exit, only turning around once to wave before she too left.

Naruto walked towards where Sasuke sat and pulled him to his feet. He wrapped his arms around his neck, feeling Sasuke wrap his arms around his waist, "I love you, Naruto"

"And I love you, Sasuke." They had a soft loving kiss, before taking hold of each other's hand and left the school the same way as everyone else, knowing that the rest of their life was going to be great

The End

-Line Break-

Well, what do you think?

I had an idea for this a while ago and actually started typing it when the idea hit me, but then I left it to gather dust on my laptop in one of my story folders. However, today I got some inspiration and decided to finish it.

Do you guys like it? I was originally going to have Sakura run out of there crying eyes out, or something as when I originally started it; I had a dislike for Sakura. But then I started to like her again and the story changed :)

Anyway, please review and tell me what you think. Your comments are greatly appreciated, though please no flames. I know there are flaws but I'm kind of rusty.

Thanks for reading, but if you excuse me, I need to go get ready for work (I hate night shifts...)


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